Turkey Shoot 2007

The Annual Sound Opinions Turkey Shoot: Jim and Greg celebrate Thanksgiving the old-fashioned way—by taking out this year's biggest turkeys. Tune in to hear 2007's musical disappointments be put out of their misery, and ours.

Alicia Keys As I Am

Alicia Keys has a record out this week that's poised to be #1. Keys has been groomed by Clive Davis in the old school star-making machine, and has become one of the biggest recording artists of this decade. Jim has never been overly impressed by Keys' style which is part polished R&B, part gritty hip hop. But, As I Am is so campy and over the top, that he found himself enjoying the record…even the John Mayer duet. Like a bag of candy, Jim knows it's not good for him, but he gives the record a Buy It. Greg wants to like Keys a lot more; she's obviously got real talent. But, he thinks her lyrics are nothing but a string of clichés. He also wishes she wasn't so bogged down by the over-production. He gives As I Am a Trash It.

Turkey Shoot 2007

Every Thanksgiving Jim and Greg celebrate by breaking out the double barrel and taking out the year's biggest musical“turkeys”in a Turkey Shoot. These aren't just flops or bad records, but albums Jim and Greg had high hopes for that turned out to be disappointments. Here are this year's birds:

The Hives The Black and White Album

The second album up for review this week is The Black and White Album by Swedish rockers The Hives. The band had a hit in 2000 with "Hate to Say I Told You So," but have yet to really break through to mainstream audiences (despite obvious attempts by their record company). This album is a change of pace for the garage rockers and has more soul than listeners heard previously. They even teamed up with hip hop producer Pharrell Williams for a couple of tracks. The result works for Greg, though he wishes they'd edited down the number of tracks. Jim agrees that the merging of sounds is really successful. They have a credible groove. Both Jim and Greg give The Black and White Album a Buy It.